See You on the Other Side
by Methian
Summary: All things have opposites that balance them. Earth and Air, Fire and Water, and Life and Death. As the Avatar, it was my duty to watch over this balance, but sometimes... It just hurts too much...


I own nothing related to Avatar in any way. All that belongs to me are the situations and the original characters.

Author's Notes at the end.

**Recommended Song:** Time We Had - The Mother Hips

* * *

**See You on the Other Side**

**Spring, 170 ASC*  
**

Gyatso's words didn't really register with me at first. All I remember was the feeling that something was going to be taken from us and I needed to be there before it happened. With speed that I hadn't had since my mid-thirties, I sprinted down dozens of corridors, up millions of stairs, and nearly straight through a few doors. The thought of bending never crossed my mind. The entire way, I just kept replaying my son's words in my head over and over, trying to make sense of it all.

* * *

_I was in the garden of the Southern Air Temple. Old age had taken its toll on my stamina and my time of adventuring was gone, passed to a new generation. Now, I spent most of my days tending the gardens and entertaining the grandchildren. It was simple but rewarding._

_It was around midday and I was in the cabbage patch when my youngest son nearly flew down the stairs leading from the main building. He launched himself down the stone steps, propelled by a gust of air, and landed in a heap at my feet. I let out a small chuckle, thinking he was being a fool, and helped him sit up. It was then I noticed the tears streaming down his face.  
_

_"Gyatso... What's the matter with you?" I asked._

_He started spewing a mess of incomprehensible gibberish. He had always been the most emotional of all of our children and was the most likely to react badly in tough situations. He got that from me. The rest of my children got the knack of hiding their feelings from their mother's side. Gyatso had the worst habit of slurring his speech when he was upset and that made it hard to understand what was wrong. I hugged him from the side and patted his back. A feeling in the back of my mind told me that, whatever upset him, would end very badly.  
_

_"Shh... Shh... Calm down a second... Breathe in..."_

_His breathing was staggered, punctuated by the occasional sob, but he was calming down somewhat. I made him repeat the breathing exercise a few times until I thought he was ready to talk._

_"Now... Tell me what happened..."_

_He took a few more staggered breathes followed by a hiccup. He couldn't say more than a few words at a time  
_

_"Mom is in... Your room... Passed out... In kitchen..."_

_I stared at him, disbelief etched across my features. Gyatso degenerated into another fit of crying and, without thinking, I took off running towards the main tower._

_

* * *

_"Damn air-bender architecture!" I cursed to myself.

I had gone up what seemed like an infinite number of stairs, but was only around a few dozen or so. Still running, I was climbing the last set of steps. At the top was my destination. The master bedroom and my wife of sixty-eight years. I hoped I wasn't too late. I skidded to a halt outside the grand door. The elegant decorations that had once seemed so beautiful and bright now appeared dark and malevolent, almost mocking. I reached for the door and hesitated.

A million questions buzzed around my skull. What happened? Is she okay? Is she...?

I shook my head, more violently than necessary, and ignored those questions. All that mattered was that she needed me more than anything, whatever was going to happen. Reaffirmed, I grasped the handle of the door and nearly threw it off its hinges.

The room was dark, all the curtains drawn, but I didn't notice. My eyes were focused on the two figures at the far side of the room. One was lying down on the bed, motionless except for the slight movement of her chest. The other was sitting in a chair next to the bed. Gyatso's wife, Kayta, jerked her head in my direction as the door slammed against the wall. She stood quickly and made her way over to me.

"What's wrong?" The question escaped my lips before she was fully out of the chair. Kayta was a nurse from the North Pole, she would know better than I would.

She completed the distance between us before answering me. It was only a few seconds but it felt like hours. She let out a deep sigh.

"Her heart is just... Giving out... She's old, Aang. It's her time."

She was whispering, but it seemed like she was shouting at me. The words echoed in my skull and hit me like they were physical blows. I stumbled back into wall behind me and clutched a chair for support. A few tears leaked from her eyes, smearing her expensive make-up. It felt like I was dying, like a part of me was being ripped out and destroyed. It pained me to do so, but I had to ask the worst question I would ever ask.

"How long...?"

Kayta averted her eyes and let out a sob. I didn't have time to play games. She was about to... With unknown strength, I grabbed her by the shoulders roughly and made her face me.

"Kayta!" I yelled at her, "Answer me! How long!"

She hesitated a second before composing herself, drawing all of her inner fire to answer me.

"I'm not sure... Maybe a few minutes. An hour at most."

I had so little time! Sixty-eight years of marriage and this was the end of it all... I released Kayta's shoulders, staring at the form lying on the bed. Kayta silently exited the room and closed the door behind her, leaving the two of us alone. I kept staring at the form of my wife, unsure of what to do. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn she was taking a nap.

It was this moment, standing at the foot of our bed, where I realized how old I was. Technically, I was 172 years old if you count the time I was in the iceberg. After living for so long, days just ran into each other and the next thing I knew I was a grandfather. The world changed so fast with the three nations working together. Even back when I was released from the ice, I was from an out-dated world. Now, with the rate of change, I got left behind. I never thought about it until that moment, standing in my room, watching Toph slowly wither away.

A noise from the bed forced my legs into movement. The next second, I was sitting in Kayta's chair, grasping my wife's hand for dear life. Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes.

"Hey..." I whispered to her, still clutching her hand. Her eyes swept over to me, looking me directly in the face without actually looking at me.

"Aang...?" She sounded so weak, like talking required every ounce of strength she had.

"Shh..." I hissed, "Don't talk. You... You had an accident." My voice cracked, ever so slightly, towards the end. I couldn't tell her the truth. I knew she could tell when people were lying but I hoped that this would be the one time she couldn't.

"Don't lie. What happened...?" she asked. Her words were slow and she sounded like she was getting weaker with every word. I had to answer her, but I didn't trust my own voice.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I watched her more. She looked so helpless, so frail... Her face was thin, her eyes sunken into her skull. She looked very pale, more so than usual, and she was sweating profusely. Her gray hair was tangled and dirty, splayed across her pillow.

"You collapsed..." was all I could manage without breaking down myself.

She was silent for a long moment, her gray-green eyes staring into a space only she could see. Finally, she spoke, with words I hated to hear her say.

"So, I'm dying."

It wasn't a question. She knew her fate and was ready to accept it. The tears were now flowing freely from my eyes and I squeezed her hand harder. I knew she couldn't see me, but I nodded my head. I couldn't speak. It was hard enough to hold back as it was now.

She started laughing, weak as she was. It wasn't a strong laugh, barely above a whisper, but it still shook her entire body. I stared at her in shock. Inches from death and she was laughing in its face. Stubborn to the end...

"Its funny," She said after a second. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "After facing the entire fire nation, I, Toph Bei Fong, wife of the Avatar, inventor of metal-bending, and coolest grandma on the planet, get done in by old age."

I couldn't help but smile at her statement. Even in the end, she made jokes. It was her form of coping, had been for her entire life.

"How else was it going to happen?" I whispered to her. "If it came for you directly, you would have kicked its ass."

We shared a small chuckle, possibly the last between us. I was deliberately avoiding mentioning the word death. In my distraught state, rationality flew out the window and I firmly believed that if I didn't mention it, it wouldn't be true. But, being the Avatar, I was well-versed in matters of life and death and no amount of wishing would change reality. The best I could do was enjoy the time we had.

Slowly, as if moving her would shatter her, I climbed into the bed with her. I pressed my back against the simple headboard and wrapped my arms carefully around her shoulders. She shifted up until her head was resting in the curve of my neck. Her breathing was shallow and slow as it tickled my skin. We sat like that, her entwined in my arms, for what seemed like hours. As the sun started dipping into the horizon, Toph shifted slightly and spoke.

"I'm scared, Aang." she said, her voice barely qualifying as a whisper.

Despite her tough exterior, Toph did have a sensitive side. She rarely showed it, but when she did, she meant whatever she was saying. I hugged her closer to me and lowered my head to hers.

"It'll be okay Toph." I whispered into her ear. "Get some rest."

I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and gripped her tighter. Her breathing was getting slower by the second and her eyelids were drooping lower. She wrapped her arms around my torso, but her strength was gone. She was barely able to keep them up.

"I love you Aang..." she whispered, her arms slipping down my torso.

"I love you too Toph... With all my soul."

She smirked slightly and breathed out one word I had to strain to hear.

"Sap..."

She released her last breath, that smirk still drawn across her face. I stayed there, holding on to her body, not ready to leave her. Streams of tears ran from my eyes as I sat there and, even though she couldn't hear me anymore, I still had to say something.

"Bye Toph... See you on the other side..."

* * *

*ASC stands for After (the original) Sozin's Comet and marks the start of the war. Its whats used as a starting point for the Avatar calendar, like Jesus's supposed birth year is to the Gregorian calendar.

**A/N:** Well? What do you think? Hopefully, I did this story some justice. Personally, I can storyboard better than I can actually write, so I'm sorry if it's boring/confusing/bad.

Yes, these ages are semi-canon as far as death is concerned. The new series takes place seventy years after the end of the war and the original Gaang has already long since passed on, Aang himself by at least 16 years. I actually bumped it up by twenty years for this because I can't picture the Gaang dying in their fifties.

For now, this is a one-shot, but I have an idea for a sequel. Based on the reaction to this, I may write it, I may not.

Anyway, reviews and criticisms are always welcome, even flames. Anything to make me a better writer.


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